Orange County’s
median home price in May 2015 is $615,000, an increase of $15,000
since the previous month’s median and an increase of $20,000 since
the previous May. Despite the drop in home prices experienced
in January and this March, Orange County home prices have been
steadily increasing and are expected to continue to increase as
interest rates remain low and the summer buying season continues.
Yet, Orange County may face a shortage of qualified buyers as
a lack of wage growth and high cost of living keep some families
from purchasing and instead may push them into other markets.

Apartment rental rates in Orange County have seen strong year-over-year growth
since 2012 and continue to climb to new heights in 2015. The Orange
County average rental rate in June 2015 decreased slightly to
$1,849 – yet increased by $113 compared to the previous June.
On a per-city basis, Santa Ana and Huntington Beach had the highest
year-over-year growth ($241 and $186, respectively) while Irvine
saw the smallest increase ($17). On a month-to-month basis, Anaheim
and Huntington Beach saw the largest increases at $53 and $44,
respectively while Santa Ana experienced a large drop of $107.

Orange County Building permit activity in October 2014 hit landmark highs with
1,892 permits granted during the month. May 2015 brought modest
permit growth, with 1,328 new permits recorded in the county for
the month. Irvine represented the city with the highest amount
of new permits recorded during the month of May 2015 at 904.

Orange County’s median home price is compared to other regions, showing
the year-over-year and month-over-month change in value.

Source: Dataquick

Average
Apartment Rents Orange County and by Major City

This indicator shows the average apartment rent for major Orange County
cities and for the county average as a whole. The county average as a whole
is not the average of the seven cities shown in this chart but for all the
cities in Orange County.